<p>This study examines China’s Information Consumption Pilot (ICP) policy as a quasi-natural experiment to identify how policy-induced shifts in information consumption affect air pollution. Using panel data for 278 prefecture-level cities from 2006 to 2019 and a generalized difference-in-differences (DID) model, we find that the ICP policy reduces PM_2.5 concentrations by 0.5826 units, equivalent to an average decline of about 1.3%. We then show that this effect operates mainly through three channels: industrial upgrading, increased green-oriented technological innovation, and more energy-efficient consumption patterns. The results further reveal substantial heterogeneity. The PM_2.5-reducing effect is stronger in cities with larger urban scale, better infrastructure, and stricter environmental regulation. Complementary analysis based on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) framework suggests that ICP cities move to the improvement stage of the income–pollution relationship at a lower income level than other cities, indicating that consumption pattern upgrading can help decouple economic growth from pollution earlier in the development process. Importantly, we do not find evidence that these environmental gains come at the cost of economic performance, implying that the ICP policy supports high-quality development. Overall, the paper provides novel evidence that information-consumption–oriented policy can serve as an effective instrument for reducing PM_2.5 while sustaining economic vitality.</p>